True Gift
by JeanieBeanie33
Summary: A little holiday story inspired by Christmas. Jack Sparrow gives Elizabeth the best gift of all: his compass. Temporarily, of course. Willabeth, but I think everyone will like it, regardless of their preference.


**Disclaimer**: Not mine, even the 'divine providence' that inspired me to write something for the holidays. You can give that credit to my family, especially my cousin Brianne, who made us all excited and giddy when she announced she was pregnant with a baby boy.

**Author's Note:** Written to fill my desire to write something Christmas-y (and to keep my mind from all the presents that are under the Christmas tree downstairs). It's Willabeth, but I think that almost everyone will like it. Come on, it's the holidays!

**True Gift**

Ever since she was a little girl in England, Elizabeth had always adored Christmas. Everything always seemed a little prettier; everyone always seemed a little happier. The snow always looked so soft, and she'd often sneak out and play in the snow with the stable boys (making her father and governess despair of her ever being a lady, with good reason). Then there was the fact there were always several presents, just for her – she'd always taken special delight in that it hadn't even been her birthday.

The move to the Caribbean when she was not-quite-twelve had been met with slight difficulty that following Christmas. A month before Christmas, when her father asked what she wanted, she had sullenly cried, _'how can it be Christmas without a Christmas tree and snow? How can it be Christmas without little candles and snow-filled streets and hot chocolate?'_

How indeed? It had been William Turner, his face still freckled and his chin smooth, who had provided an answer. She had seen him, on a carriage ride into town as he swept dust and ashes from his master's doorstep (not a snowflake in sight). Before she could stop the carriage to say hello, it had sped on, leaving Will behind. While at the seamstress, her original destination, she begged her father for something extra as a Christmas present, which he, rather discombobulated, allowed. At first she had thought to get a scarf and have the medallion she'd seized from Will, not so long ago, wrapped up inside it, but decided against it, worried that he wouldn't understand why she'd taken it (plus she was worried that it would renew his desire of searching for his father, which he'd confided in her was the reason that he'd left England). Instead, she'd gotten him a new pair of shoes, and a new jacket. She'd wrapped them up and delivered them by hand to Will. It was thus that the Christmas spirit was revived inside of her.

As they'd grown up, Christmas had changed from a night of Christmas stories from her governess to a ball in which she had to wear a corset and dress (usually green or red). Every year she would get something for Will (a stick ball so he could play with the other apprentices; a journal he could draw in, since it proved he had a talent for such; a handkerchief she'd sewed herself, with his initials, plus a matching belt; and more), and every year he would give something back, something that was a great deal more modest but was still something – it was the thought that counted to Elizabeth. A bouquet of flowers one year; a handful of velvet ribbons the next (silk ones being too expensive, although Will would rather die than admit it); once a bag of sea shells, since she'd confessed she'd love to be able to sail the seas (he'd been shell-shocked but he'd never forgotten).

The Christmas following the first adventure with Jack, the _Black Pearl_, Isla de Meurta, and Barbossa, Will had given her an engagement ring, and she had given him a pocket watch engraved with a ship, a beautiful sunset on the horizon as a backdrop (_I had wanted to request the _Black Pearl she'd explained,_ but I have a feeling the engravers wouldn't have done so, so I just said 'ship.')_

Now, it was the second Christmas, only Elizabeth was not in Port Royal or England, or even on land. She was on the _Pearl_, the ship of her dreams, with a crazy pirate captain that had awoken strange feelings in her; another pirate captain that had once scared her to death but whom she now regarded with something close to fondness; his monkey, who she'd also come to be fond of; a voodoo priestess, whom she'd come to be both wary and in awe of; the man that she thought she loved, who was keeping his distance; an ex-military man that had come to his senses and, at the last minute, turned his back on Cutler Beckett; her father, who they had rescued from prison; and a crew of pirates that she had grown to respect.

Elizabeth, having braved World's End, conquered Chinese pirates and Davy Jones, and overthrown Lord Cutler Beckett, felt that her debt to Jack Sparrow had been paid enough for her to ask a celebration in honor of Christmas. Jack had announced this celebration to the crew in the simplest of terms: DRINKS ALL AROUND!

A particular number gave Elizabeth gifts (Barbossa and the monkey had given her, to their amusement she was sure, a bushel of apples; even Pintel and Ragetti had given her a roll of cloth, a fan, and a parasol, all of which had probably been pilfered). The one that she knew she'd never forget, however, came from Jack.

It had come in untidily wrapped paper that he'd probably gotten from Tia Dalma. All it said on the card (in a contrasting neat script) was: _Use it wisely, Lizzie. I'll be expecting it back when you're finished._ Inside was Jack's infamous and beloved compass.

Gaping, she'd quickly looked at Jack, who was giving Gibbs a wrapped package that looked suspiciously like a bottle of rum. He caught her eye, gave her a nod that was for once devoid of any humor, and turned away.

Overcoming her shock and frowning slightly, she pocketed it before anyone saw (except for Tia Dalma, but she noticed everything, to the unease of everyone except Jack and Barbossa). She proceeded to open her gifts, and it was only after thanking everyone with a smile (and a hug in Ragetti's case, since he hugged her first), plus a kiss for her father, and drinking and celebrating well into the night, that she finally flipped open the compass.

With bated breath, Elizabeth waited for the compass to quit spinning. First it swung briefly south, and it was with sudden insight that she knew it was pointing to the _Black Pearl._ To freedom.

Then it pointed, again briefly, to Jack at the helm, and at first she was confused until it pointed back south. With the same sudden clarity, she knew. It pointed to freedom _and_ adventure.

Finally, it settled a little to her right. Elizabeth turned. It had pointed to Will, and this time, after trembling a few seconds, it stayed resolutely still pointing to him. To love, her _true_ love.

Snapping it shut, she abruptly yelled, "Jack!" He turned, and barely managed to catch the compass as it flew right at him. Then she, even louder, screamed, "WILL!"

He turned to her, his brow furrowed in confusion, from the door that led to below decks, as she herself flew at him and into his arms. Even more befuddled, he still automatically wrapped his arms around his sobbing fiancée who frantically whispered into his shirt that was slowly beginning to be sodden, "it pointed to you, because I love you, I love you, I love you so much, more than anything else in the world, I know now. I want you more than anything else in the world, I love you so much…."

Through it all, Jack observed, at first, with a nostalgic smile, thinking, for a moment, what it would be like for Elizabeth to be in his arms. Then it turned to a comprehending and – yes – content smile, because he made a realization of his own: as unfeeling as it sounded, Elizabeth wasn't what he wanted most. It was freedom, what she desired as well but not as much as she desired Will. He wouldn't be able to live without freedom, just like she wouldn't be able to live without Will.

It was the best gift ever received.

**- FINIS -**

Happy Holidays, everyone, and here's to a very Happy New Year!


End file.
